Passion: The Sexy Pyro Remix
by Vonna Plum
Summary: Roxas loves to compose music, but he hates playing in front of other people. The answer? Myspace. He also loves a certain redhead who just so happens to be the hottest year twelve at school, but he’s too shy. The answer? Myspace. Zemyx. Giftfic to W.E.


**Overall Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the songs, websites or iPods mentioned in this story  
**Rating:** T for Needless Unnecessary Swearing.  
**Genre:** Romance/General/Humour  
**Pairings:** Akuroku, Zemyx. Very, very slight Soriku.  
**Note:** THIS IS A ONE SHOT. Please do not ask for any sequels/continuations/updates.

**Dedication:** To Wrath's Essence, My Wonderful Beta, who turned an incredibly **OLD** XX years old today. Just kidding.

**Author's Note:** Here's a massive one shot.. I've never written a one shot this long before, but I really like it. I think the people who will enjoy this the most are;  
1. People who compose music  
2. People who have a similar taste in music as me  
3. People who have a myspace  
But it doesn't really matter, hopefully you'll still like it if you don't apply to any of those things, they're not a necessity.

Right, so I have to go to school now. Cheerio!

**EDIT:** fanfiction netdecided to fuck with my fanfic, and that makes me upset. All the emails came out retarded, and the spacing has gone weird. Should be fixed now, but argh, man. How annoying!

**R & R, Enjoy,  
V. Plum.**

**Passion (The Sexy Pyro Remix)**

By Vonna Plum

---

The hall was empty when Roxas got there. The sound of the door clicking open echoed through the massive room. He slipped into the hall quietly, wincing when the clicking of the door closing echoed through the concert hall again. The room had comfortable plush red seats, and an impressive chandelier hung from the ridiculously high ceiling. At the back of the hall, there was a stage. And on that stage, there was a grand piano.

Roxas walked down the passageway running down the side of the seats, feeling insignificant in comparison to the grand auditorium. He hated it where there were no more practice rooms, the only other piano lived in this auditorium, and the hall wasn't exactly soundproof... But something in the pit of his stomach was excited about playing a grand piano on a stage.

He walked up the steps onto the stage, and shuffled over to the piano. He ran his hands on the piano's ebony surface as he moved to sit on the matching stool. He lifted the lid, revealing ivory keys. Despite how shy and embarrassed he felt on the stage, he couldn't stop the excitement that welled in his stomach. It wasn't often that he got the chance to play a grand piano... He played a single note (an F), and allowed his mouth to curve into a soft smile. What should he play today...?

He placed his hands nervously in position for the newest song he'd composed, resting his foot on the pedal, hesitating a little. Yesterday, the Head of the Music Department had walked in on his playing, and though Ariel had complimented his playing, she hadn't hesitated to kick him out instantly.

Roxas pulled his fingers away from the piano, rolling his wrists and cracking his knuckles before putting them back in place. Pushing his petty shyness to the back of his mind, he began to play.

Music flowed fluidly through his fingertips into the piano, filling the auditorium and melting away Roxas' qualms. His eyes slid shut and a soft smile graced his lips as his song began to crescendo, his hands moving faster, weaving an elaborate melody.

All of his stress and worries faded, if only for the moment, as the music flowed through his body, with a feeling of content elation. The grand piano sounded so much better than his keyboard, or the pianos in the practice rooms; Roxas loved it.

Suddenly, a familiar clicking of a door sounded. His song came to a complete halt, his hands already draw away from the piano, his eyes wide.

"I thought I'd find you here, Roxas." Roxas heaved a great sigh of relief.

"Namine, you gave me a freaking heart attack!"

"Who did you think I was? A teacher?" Namine walked down the front row of the seats, a sketch book tucked under her arm, she put on a strict but melodious voice, "'Mr. Strife, I've told you again and again, you cannot play this piano!'" Roxas laughed.

"Was that meant to be Ariel?"

"Who else?" Namine giggled, "Did you write that song?"

"Huh?"

"I could hear what you were playing from the hallway outside. It's really, really beautiful! What's it called?" Namine smiled. Roxas looked down at the piano keys, blushing a little. He wasn't very good at receiving compliments.

"Uhm, it's tentatively called 'Sanctuary', but I'm contemplating 'Passion'."

"Hmm, I reckon 'Passion' is better. It's more passionate than peaceful..."Namine smiled, flipping open her sketchbook, "You should really let me draw you playing the piano one day."

"No way." Roxas said quickly, that'd be way to embarrassing. It wasn't that he had low self esteem when it came to his piano playing, it was just that he didn't like people listening. His songs were like a part of him, a piece of his heart or soul, and he didn't want just anyone listening to the songs of his heart. It was the main reason he'd shot down so many opportunities for music scholarships, and so many concert performances. And, he guessed, if he could bring himself to play in front of a crowd, than he'd never have to get a summer job with the amount of money he'd win from competitions. But he just couldn't do it. And he didn't want to anyway. He didn't want to use his songs as a form of income.

There were times where he'd wanted to share his music with people, though. It made it hard to get reviews or suggestions for improvements about his songs when he couldn't exactly play to anyone...

"How much more time is there until classes start?"

"Uhm, about fifteen minutes or so." Namine looked down at her bare wrist, as though there was an imaginary watch there. She drew her knees up onto the seat, hiding her sketch pad from Roxas and pulled a pencil from behind her ear.

"Okay." Roxas ran his fingers along the piano again, playing the basic melody of his song softly. Namine was lucky she could even hear Roxas' music, and she was his closest childhood friend!

"Rox, have you thought about getting a myspace?" Namine suggested, sketching out the outlines of something Roxas couldn't see. She seemed to be drawing faster than usual. Roxas frowned.

"Not really." He replied honestly.

"You really should, Rox. If you signed up as a musician, you could upload your music onto your page for people to listen to."

"I don't like people listening to my songs."

"Correction; you don't like friends slash people who you even vaguely know listening to your songs in person." Namine teased. Roxas contemplated her words.

"I guess..."

"You won't have to perform. You'd still get compliments and advice for improvement, and maybe from people who actually know a thing or two about music. And the world will be enlightened by your beautiful playing." Roxas had to admit, it did sound pretty good. Namine continued.

"And besides, all your friends want to hear your songs. And you hurt them every time you say you don't want them to hear it without an explanation. This way, they can hear it, and you'll only have to go through minimal embarrassment." Sighing, Roxas gave in. He hadn't really thought of it that way, and he didn't like hurting his friends.

"... Fine. I'll make it tonight..." Roxas turned back to the piano, ending the conversation and playing the song and an old song he'd written a year or so back. He knew 'Dearly Beloved' was Namine's favorite too. Roxas could hear her humming to the song softly and a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

Roxas watched his fingers, music flowing through him languidly again, losing himself in the notes. As he brought the song to a close, he saw Namine stand, signifying the beginning of classes. He slid the piano shut and came down the stage to join her as they walked up the passageway and out of the auditorium. Roxas took out his iPod and put the earphones in before playing the last song he'd been listening to.

_If I, if I, if I die inside  
Would anyone realize? (No)  
I lived a lie  
(Is anyone gonna realise)_

"What were you drawing?" Roxas asked innocently. Namine smirked, which was a pretty rare expression for her to show. She flipped her sketch book open to show him.

There was a large sketchy piano that looked oddly familiar, and a much more clearer and better drawn boy sitting at the piano, his eyes closed in concentration, his hair spiky... much like his...

_This is no way for a man to live his life,  
Paranoid on the prison yard pavement..._

Namine giggled at the sudden realization on Roxas' face, and ran away. Roxas blushed a deep red in embarrassment.

"NAMINE!"

---

**From: Roxas  
To: Namine  
Subject: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Namine!! This is way too hard! What am I suppose to put for 'Musician Name'? And 'Genre'? I was thinking 'Classical', but I don't always write classical stuff... And what should I upload? And who's gonna look at it anyway, I'm just a random kid from Twilight Town. I checked out some of the other bands, they're from freakin' Hollow Bastion and stuff! And they have, like, 100K+ views!**

**---**

**From: Namine  
To: Roxas  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Lol, Rox, stop freaking out, it's just a website. As for Musician name... make it 'Roxas Pwns the Piano'. Haha! Nah, make it something pretty serious because your music is serious. Like................. Cerulean Reverie. or something like that. And you can choose more than one genre, but definitely make one of them Classical. And who cares where you come from?! And dw, I'll send your URL to _everybody_ when you've actually made your myspace.  
Namine x  
P.S.: Upload Passion.**

**--- **

**From: Roxas  
To: Namine  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
I'm not freaking out. Cerulean Reverie? Myeah, good enough. And don't send it to absolutely _everyone_, Namine! If you do, I'm disowning you!...Or something like that.**

**---**

**From: Namine  
To: Roxas  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Roxas, if I don't send it to absolutely _everybody_, then you'll never get 100K+ like all those H. Bastion bands. And think of it like this: I send it to absolutely everybody we know, and if they like it, they send it to everybody that they know, and everybody that they know sends it to everybody they know, etc, etc.  
Btw, you'd never disown me, and you know it.  
Namine x**

**---**

**From: Roxas  
To: Namine  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Uhm, okay. I vaguely get what you're saying. Here's my URL.  
And I went ahead and uploaded Passion.**

**---**

**From: Namine  
To: Roxas  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Awesome! Just in time, I was starting to think that you were completely computer illiterate. LOL! Wow, it looks so boring, gimme your password, and I'll give it a makeover. I have nothing better to do anyway. Btw, Passion sounds really good, what did you use to record it?  
Namine x**

**---**

**From: Roxas  
To: Namine  
Subject: RE: That stupid myspace thing.  
Message:  
Ha-ha, very funny, Nam. My password's the same as my email one. Cbf thinking of a new pass. My keyboard can record songs too, so I just kinda used that.  
Anyway, it's pretty early, but I'm going to bed. G'night.**

---

_Good Moorning, Listeners! You're listening to Fox009.6, and this is The Ienzo and Myde Show, bringing you the best of the 'understream'. we're gonna start the day of with a little screamo, just you wake you up. Cue the evil laugh-- _Click.

Roxas pulled his hand away from the snooze button on his trusty alarm clock, stretching like a cat before getting out of bed.

He didn't bother to check his email. He walked to school in a relatively happy mood, spinning one of his iPod's earphones with his right hand, a little upset about waking up a little late. It meant that he didn't have time to sneak into the music building again. But the fact that they only had a half-day of school today made up for it. He walked into the school grounds with Boys Like Girls' newest song blasting through his eardrums. He sang with the chorus under his breath, and hummed during the verses; he didn't quite know all the lyrics yet.

"Yo, Roxas!" Hayner, Pence, Olette and Namine were hanging around his locker. Roxas smiled.

"Hey guys, what're we doing after school?"

"I gathered up a group of people, we're gonna go to the mall." Olette grinned. Roxas' eye twitched, shopping again? He looked at Hayner, who had the same sort of expression on. Olette turned to Namine, and they began talking rapid fire about which stores to go to.

"Something about a pair of shoes. I swear, ever since she found out Vans made flats, 'Lette's been totally obsessed." Hayner sighed. Roxas chuckled a little.

"Anyway! We're," Olette paused to hook her arms into Hayner and Pence's arms, "... Going to class early for once. No buts! See you later!"

Roxas opened his locker, and dumped his bag into it, before taking out his books for first period.

"So, how's le Myspace?" Namine asked.

"Uhh, dunno, I didn't check it this morning." Roxas shrugged sheepishly.

"Awh, Rox! I spent so long making your profile look awesome, and you haven't even seen it?" Namine pouted as Roxas shut his locker rather forcefully (it was quite stubborn), and the two of them began walking to their first class.

"Sorry. We can check it at recess if you want." Namine smiled.

"Cool. I bet you already have comments!"

"How would you know?"

"Well, you've got at least one. From me." Namine laughed. Roxas rolled his eyes, though he was smirking. He took a seat at the back of the classroom with Namine and class began. Roxas took out a black ball-point pen and began drawing on the cover of his folder. He wasn't nearly as good as Namine at drawing, but he didn't think he was that bad either.

Suddenly, A boy with spiky brunette hair burst into the classroom, panting. Roxas rolled his eyes, trust Sora to be late.

"Sorry! My _girl_friend... _she_... _she_ set my alarm an hour late for... kicks, so..." Sora gasped between pants. A few people in the class laughed. Sora grinned and took a seat beside Roxas. Roxas took out a piece of paper and wrote a quick note.

_Was it Riku? XD_

He pushed the note to Sora, who wrote back quickly.

_Duh, the bastard, I should castrate him, then he really _will_ be my girlfriend!!! I checked out your myspace. That song is freaking AWESOME. The mystery of Roxas' Secret Music Compositions is solved!_

Roxas smiled a little at the note, keeping a mental note never to annoy Sora.

_Thanks! You coming with us afterschool?_

Roxas continued drawing idly on his folder, hardly taking in what the teacher was saying. Beside him, Namine was taking notes studiously. Usually Roxas was studious as well, but it was first period, concentration took double the effort, and effort was impossible this early in the morning.

_No idea what you're talking about, but sure, I'll come._

Roxas grinned, then hid the slip of paper under his pencil case and decided to at least try and listen to the teacher. If he tried really hard, he'd definitely be able to actually learn something.

... Who was he kidding?

---

"This totally sucks, man." Hayner sighed. Roxas sat in the change rooms of some obscure clothing shop with Sora, Tidus, Hayner and Pence. Selphie, Olette and Namine went back and forth, and back and forth, and they were slowly wearing down on the boys' patience.

"We should go to the food court next." Pence suggested.

"Pence, we had lunch, like, an hour ago or something," Roxas snorted, "I wanna check out the music store. All Time Low just released a new album, so..."

"Which one's All Time Low again?" Hayner asked.

"That's the one with that bassist with the hot pink bass guitar, isn't it?" Pence wondered aloud. Roxas sighed. It was sort of sad how his friends remembered the band from a hot pink bass instead of the music.

"Uhh, yeah, it is..." His friends didn't really have the same taste in music as him, they were more mainstream. Personally, Roxas hated mainstream. Some of the songs were as stupid as some idiot chanting the same line again and again over a boring 'boom-boom-boom' beat. It seemed like anyone could be a musician these days, if you could call mainstream music, anyway. It would be nice to actually have someone to talk to about music by people who can actually play an instrument and actually write music that required actual musical knowledge.

"I thought so. They're pretty good..." Pence hummed. Roxas pulled out his phone and went onto Myspace. He may as well check it, seeing as they'd forgotten to check it at recess. Namine had changed his background into a black and white checkers with a simple but effective design on the white squares that said 'Cerulean Reverie'. There was a matching banner across the top, and his default picture had been changed to the black and white picture she'd drawn yesterday.

In the picture, Roxas was quite accurate and detailed, but not instantly recognizable, and the grand piano was shaded a shiny black. Instead of the full piano in the image, half of it had been cropped out. The tones were soft and tranquil and a stream of light with feathers floating in the air shone down onto the grand piano

She'd also written, '_Hi, my name is Roxas, from Twilight Town, and I like to compose music. I love seasalt ice cream. Also, Namine is the coolest person in the whole freaking world!!! (Awh, you flatter me, Roxas!)_' into his About Me section. Roxas' eye twitched. It didn't really sound like something he'd say at all... he made a mental note to change it later on.

He'd received fourteen views and two comments from last night, as well as three friend requests, including a weird request from some weirdo called 'Tom'. They weren't much, but they gave Roxas a feeling of elation anyway.

**SORA. **8 Aug 2009 10:02 PM  
Omg, Hi Roxas! Your song is really really cool, I'm gonna pass your myspace on everyone I know... It sounds like something Riku would like. But awesome man, love the song!

**nice one, namine.** 8 Aug 2009 9:45 PM  
Yay! Hopefully the people who I sent your URL to won't delete it thinking it's chain mail or a virus or something. haha!  
Namine x

"Like it?"

Roxas looked up, and saw Namine standing over him, a black shopping bag in her hand. She was looking down at the screen of Roxas' phone with a sort of proud expression on.

"Yeah, it's great, thanks, Nam." Roxas smiled and stood.

"No problem. The others are going to just walk around, but I was hoping to go get that Taylor Swift album, so can we go there?" Roxas nodded.

"Sure, I wanted to go to the music store anyway."

The two of them walked out of the store and headed to the music store. It wasn't that far away, and when they got there Roxas weaved through the shelves of music, straight to his favorite genre. Namine went to the shelf with 'Top 25 Albums' written boldly on a sign above it.

Roxas looked at the posters on the wall, a lot of them were Dance/Techno artists playing in some no name venue in--

"Gyah!" Roxas almost tripped on something on the floor. It turned out to be a person with their back leaning against a shelf, sleeping. And judging from the ID badge around the dirty blonde boy's neck, it was the shop clerk. _What? _Roxas knelt down and read the tag. There was an image of the boy on it, like a goofy passport photo, and 'Demyx Mélomane, Shop Clerk' on it in bold black letters. The accent was clearly handwritten in, and there was an angry-face drawn above it.

"Huh?" The boy's eyes opened, revealing sea green eyes, Roxas jumped back a little, "Oh crap, not again!" He stood abruptly, swaying a little, dizzy from sleep. Roxas stood up as well with a raised eyebrow. He stared at Demyx's haircut. What _was_ that? No one had a mullet or a mohawk anymore, but this boy seemed to have _both_.

"... Uh, sorry, I just... tripped on you." Roxas rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't worry, I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway," Demyx turned to the counter at the back of the store and cursed, "Damnit, Axel."

"Huh?" Roxas' throat went dry. 'Axel'? As in 'Axel Firaga'? As in 'Axel Firaga, hottest year twelve at Twilight Town High'? As in 'Axel Firaga, hottest year twelve at TTH, whom Roxas had a crush on in year eight'? As in 'Axel Firaga, hottest year 12 at TTH, whom Roxas still had a cru--

"He's said he'd help me out here today, jeez, if my boss finds out I fell asleep on the job again..." Demyx brought Roxas' rapid fire thoughts to a violent halt, "Anyway, do you need any help?"

_Or, it might not be Axel Firaga at all. There has to be plenty of Axel's out there... _Roxas sighed.

"...Uhh, yeah. I'm looking for the new All Time Low album..."

"All Time Low?" Demyx frowned a little, "I think I sold the last copy earlier today, before I fell asleep. I can check in the back for you, though."

"Thanks." Roxas frowned dejectedly. Hopefully they had another one in the back, he didn't want to have to wait until the next time he came here to get it. Demyx walked down to the counter, and then through the door into the back storage room.

"Who was that?" Namine came up from behind him, holding an album.

"... No idea."

"Huh. Did you find your album?"

"That guy's looking for it in the storage room." Roxas looked down, noticing a notebook lying next to the shelf on the ground. He bent down to pick it up. The left page was lined like a normal book, and it had tons of lines, perhaps lyrics, written on it. Judging from the handwriting, Roxas guessed that the owner didn't understand the concept of lined paper. On the right page, it was ruled with staves for music, the notes were messy, with scribbles and corrections everywhere, but despite the mess, it was obvious that the owner knew what he was doing, there were four sharps in the key signature, the melody was complex, and there were three instruments. Namine peered over his shoulder.

"Sorry, I don't have any more in the back," Demyx walked back, then noticed the book Roxas was holding, "Oh, that's mine."

Roxas concentrated on the notes, and began to hum them softly. He liked the melody, it was serene. At least until it got to the part where Demyx had marked in 'Lead Guitar' and 'Guitar', then Roxas felt like he was lost in a whole different language. There were six lines, and numbers... (1)

"Hey, this is really good. It's nice to meet someone who's actually music literate." Roxas smiled, handing the book back the Demyx. The shop clerked looked a little surprised and impressed.

"Thanks." Demyx smiled back. Suddenly, Namine jumped in.

"You compose music?" She asked enthusiastically. The three of them walked over to the counter and Namine paid for her album.

"Uhm, yeah...?"

"So does Roxas!"

"Namine!" Roxas glared at Namine, but she ignored him.

"Really? Cool." Demyx grinned.

"You should check out his myspace, he's really, really good. Maybe, if you like it, you could pass it on to your friends." Namine smiled. Roxas covered his face with a palm, sighing. He was so embarrassed for his friend, and her blatant advertising. Why would Demyx care?

"Sweet, write it into my notebook, and I'll check it out." Demyx passed Namine his notebook, and she pulled the pencil out from behind her ear and wrote Roxas' URL into it.

"Thanks!" Namine grinned, "Well, we better go back to our friends."

"Okay. Uh, wait, we should have more of All Time Low's album about a week from now."

"Cool, thanks." Roxas smiled. Namine waved and the two of them left. Demyx seemed like a pretty nice person. Roxas couldn't help but hope he'd comment on his song, and maybe give a little advice.

---

Demyx sighed, hanging his towel around his neck as he sat down at his laptop on his bed, clicking on GarageBand and flipping his notebook open. His eyes focused on a part of his notebook with unusually tidy handwriting (perhaps the only tidy handwriting in the entire book). Suddenly he remembered the two people he'd met earlier today...

_Rox's Myspace:  
ceruleanreverie_

Demyx contemplated actually checking it out. He'd said he would, but really, he couldn't be bothered. Then again, this 'Rox' had to be pretty good, he'd been able to hum the keyboard part in his song from the top of his head, pretty accurately too...

He sighed, opening up the Internet explorer, and typing in the URL. _This better not be disappointing..._

The page was impressive, but Demyx frowned skeptically at the statistics of the page: twenty eight views and four comments wasn't exactly impressive...

Then the music player started playing music.

Demyx was shocked.

The music was soft and melodious, and built up nicely into a passionate and elaborate part. It was amazing. Brilliant. Superb. It left him breathless.

Demyx quickly opened another tab in the window, letting the music play in the background, and went into his email inbox, opening a new message template.

**From: Demyx  
To: Zexion; Axel  
Subject: Oh my GAWD.  
Message:  
You guys check out the myspace profile of ceruleanreverie.  
This kid is unreal. Met him at the store today, he's a freaking genius!  
Dem.  
PS: Axel, you fucktard, if I get fired for falling asleep, it'll be all your fault.  
PPS: Axel, he's cute, looks like your type. ;)  
PPPS: Axel, HAH! Now do you regret ditching me at the store?  
PPPPS: Zexy, are we still on for tomorrow? ;)**

Demyx smirked and clicked the send button, and then clicked back into Roxas' myspace profile and added a comment.

_Hi, Roxas, this is Demyx, the blonde guy from the music store..._

---

**one half of Zemyx **9 Aug 2009 8:34 PM  
Hi, Roxas, this is Demyx, the blonde guy from the music store, lol.  
Your music is really impressive, I really love your song, it's so beautiful. My band might do a cover. haha.  
Anyway, I passed on your URL to my 'll probably like it as much as I do:)  
P.S.: We've got a restock of All Time Low's new album at the store now.

Roxas couldn't help but grin. There was something special about getting such positive feedback from a stranger. It felt unbiased and more truthful. When he'd checked his email the next day, he had comments from his friends and one from strangers. One from Demyx, and, Roxas guessed, one from Demyx's friends. If he was one of Demyx's friends, then he was definitely a man of few words. Very few.

**zexion **9 Aug 2009 9:56 PM  
Impressive.

"What about that?" Namine stood over his shoulder, pointing at his inbox, which was indicating a new message. Roxas clicked it, curious.

**sxc pyromaniac  
To: cerulean reverie.  
Hi Roxas,  
A friend of mine sent me your URL, and I listened to your song.  
It was really good, so I decided to do a remix of it (you don't mind, right?). Of course, I had to simplify it a little, but I got my older sister to sing and stuff, and Demyx wrote the words, so it's really cool  
I played the drums and the guitar, and then I basically went crazy with the synths.  
It's on my profile if you wanna check it out. ;)**

"Wow! Somebody remixed it!" Namine took the mouse from Roxas, clicking on the link to 's profile. Their default picture was some kind of concert poster advertising a gig at Tram Common The Venue, but something in Roxas' gut knew that this was 'Axel Firaga, hottest year 12 at Twilight Town High, whom Roxas might still have a crush on'. It was the 'pyromaniac' part of the username, and the fact that he knew Demyx...

The page loaded. It was red and black, with hints of white flames (which confirmed the identity of ). The music player loaded the first song and began to play.

"Oh my God..." Namine gasped. A calm feminine voice sang softly, and then an electric guitar joined in. It was definitely Roxas' song, he could hear his melody in the background in the form of light-hearted synths that sounded almost cute. There were drums, many synthesizers, and a beautiful (strangely familiar) voice that sang effortlessly over the top.

"... Is that... Is that _Ariel's voice_?!" Namine gasped again. Roxas gasped as well, now that he had a name and a face to match to the voice, it definitely sounded like Ariel. Ariel the Head of the Music Department. Ariel the _Sister of Axel_?!

"It's so good..." Roxas muttered under his breath.

"This has to be the epitome of fanart, Rox. And you've only had a myspace for like, four days or something. And it's really good advertisement for you, because this person has nearly a hundred thousand views. When his fans hear the song, and see the disclaimer to you..." Namine rambled excitedly, but Roxas wasn't listening. His mind was reeling.

Why would someone listen to his music and like it so much as to do something like this?

Why would Axel write something like that?

And how was he going to ever face Axel at school?

_Well, _Roxas thought bitterly, _I guess that isn't a problem, because I don't talk to Axel at school anyway. And he doesn't know me. So he won't talk to me. _Roxas sighed. _But the fact that he remixed my song _and_ sent me a message just makes me like him more and more and more and mor--_

"... Roxas? Hello?" Namine waved a hand in front of Roxas' face, bringing Roxas back down to earth. Axel's remix had ended, and it had started playing the next song. The vocals were obviously sung by Demyx. Roxas decided he really liked Demyx's voice.

"Yeah, sorry Nam."

"No problem. You should reply to sexy pyromaniac."Namine grinned. Roxas nodded, going back to his inbox and clicking to reply to the message. He contemplated asking Axel a question, so that he'd have no choice to reply back to Roxas. It was a little manipulative and childish, but Roxas didn't really care.

_Oh, wow, thanks so much! I'm so..._

---

**cerulean reverie.  
To: sxc pyromaniac  
Oh, wow, thanks so much! I'm so flattered, and your remix is really really good! Uhm, do you have the .mp3 file of it or something? Because I'd love to put it on my iPod.  
If you do, please email it to ...  
Thanks again, and I'm glad you like my song :)  
Roxas.**

Axel smirked. Demyx snorted. The two of them as well as Zexion sat on an old couch, surrounded by instruments, leads and amps. They'd tried to have a band practice, but it didn't really work without Xigbar on the drums. The three of them stared down at Axel's laptop, which sat on his lap.

"Lemme guess, Ax. You wanna meet him." Axel's smirk widened.

"You know me well, Dem."

"He probably goes to Twilight Town High," Zexion said, "He lives in Twilight Town, and he looks like around seventeen. Most late teens go to TTH."

"But there's two thousand or so students at TTH, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack." Axel sighed. He stared at Roxas' default picture. He wanted to meet this boy. This boy that had written that amazing song. He wanted to hear more of his songs, in person.

"Hey, hey! I've got an idea!" Demyx grinned, "Roxas'll probably be coming into the store later to pick up an album, so if you come with me, then you'll probably be able to see him."Axel's eyes lit up.

"That's a great idea. When's your shift?"

"Two. We can leave in ten or fifteen minutes."

"Awesome." Axel snapped his laptop shut and left the room. Demyx turned to Zexion.

"You gonna come, Zexy?"

"I can't. I have an extra shift at Starbucks soon." Zexion shrugged apologetically. Demyx pouted.

"Awh, that sucks," Demyx picked up his notebook, and they sat in silence for a while, "... I wrote a song for you, but I never had the chance to play it to you." He stroked the cover of his old notebook dejectedly. Zexion looked up, surprised. Demyx continued.

"It's all work and no play now that exams are coming, isn't it."

"... You can play it to me tonight." Zexion said quietly, almost inaudibly, but Demyx heard him. Zexion was never good with this kind of thing. He leaned over the couch and pecked Demyx on the lips chastely before standing up, his face red.

"I'm gonna go get ready for work." He said hastily.

"Zexy...?"

Zexion moved over to his bass guitar, packing it away, his face still embarrassingly red. Demyx suppressed a laugh and walked over to him.

"Zexy..." Demyx said again, Zexion turned his head, and Demyx kissed him with a slight smirk, "You're too cute."

Zexion pulled away, pursing his lips.

"... Shut up, I'm leaving." Zexion huffed angrily, picking up his bass and leaving the room rather heatedly, leaving Demyx standing alone. Demyx just smiled knowingly.

3, 2, 1...

"I'll... see you later." Zexion stuck his head into the door frame, mumbling under his curtain of hair, and then he left, the front door of the house slamming not soon after. Demyx laughed and left the room as well, in search of Axel. He was standing out in the hallway, slightly shocked.

"... What's with Zexion?" Axel turned to Demyx, his eye twitched slightly.

"Oh, nothing," Demyx grinned, "Isn't he just adorable?" Axel rolled his eyes.

"Not as adorable as Roxas. Hurry up, we're leaving." Axel grinned, ushering Demyx out the door impatiently.

It didn't take long to get to the music store. Demyx dutifully stood guard at the counter, though he was reading a magazine under the counter. Axel stood in front of a shelf of albums. He held up an album to show Demyx.

"How much discount can I get on this?"Axel grinned. It was an Escape the Fate album.

"Discount? What discount?" Demyx smirked. Axel pouted.

"Awh, come on Demyx. Aren't I your best friend?"

"Hmm, true, you are..." Demyx tapped his chin and Axel's eyes lit up, "I'll mark up the price 30% just for you then, _best friend_."

"What?! You bastard!" Axel glared, which only made Demyx cackle.

"Trust me, Axel, you'll want my help later on, when Roxas gets here." Demyx advised. Chances were, Roxas wouldn't come into the store if he saw Axel, and chances were, Axel would have no luck at all at coaxing the blonde boy into the store. Axel fell silent.

"... Okay, how about just 10% off." Axel bargained. Demyx sighed, giving in to his cheapskate friend.

"Fine. Go find the CD in the back." Demyx stuck a thumb at the door to the storage room. Axel grinned widely, walking over to pass the counter. As he passed Demyx, he patted him on the shoulder and said,

"Thanks Dem, you're the best friend a guy could ever have."

"Ha-ha, you say that now." Demyx shoved him away playfully, and his friend cackled as he went into the storage room. Demyx flicked the page of his magazine, almost drooling at the sight of a two page spread on guitars. There was an absolutely delicious Gretsch corvette guitar, with a silver body and black stripes, and three shiny pick up boards. He could definitely see himself playing one of them...until he saw the price.

"Hi Demyx." Demyx looked up from the magazine, and saw Roxas and Namine standing on the other side of the counter.

"Hi Roxas!" Demyx greeted quite loudly, glad that Roxas hadn't taken much notice of his louder voice. Namine, however, was staring at him with a raised brow.

"Do you have that--?"

"Oh yeah, I do." Demyx turned to the door of the store room, "Hey, Axel, can you get a copy of Nothing Personal, by All Time Low, as well, while you're at it." He turned back to his customers, blinking in surprise at Roxas' pale face.

"Roxas...?"

"Actually, I have a doctor's appointment right now. Bye." Roxas said so quickly, his words blurred together into one big mess. He shot out of the store again, just as Axel came out with two albums.

"Was that...?" He walked up to the counter and placed the albums down, looking quizzically from the front door of the store to Demyx.

"Yes. It was. He ran away."

"Damn it." Axel cussed.

"He'll be back." Namine reassured, smiling knowingly at Axel. She and Demyx exchanged looks, and it seemed as though the two of them had just exchanged plans A, B and C of setting Axel and Roxas up together in that one look. Demyx grinned quickly before putting on a worried face.

"Are you sure? He left so quickly..." Namine smiled.

"Yeah, of course. He's been talking about that album since the day they announced the release date. Besides, if I stay inside here, he'll have to come back."

"Great, so we'll just wait for him, then." Demyx laughed.

"It shouldn't be too long." Namine smiled again. Demyx thought for a moment before replying.

"So... Namine, what school do you guys go to?"

"Twilight Town High." She replied honestly. Axel didn't catch it, but she gave a look of agreement to Demyx. Like she knew that Demyx was looking for information if this didn't work out.

"Cool, we do too, what class are you in?" He asked nonchalantly. He knew Axel was just about ready to worship him at his feet for doing this.

"Roxas and I are both in 11SL."

"Awesome. How come we never see you at school?"

"Well, in the mornings Roxas goes to the music building, and at recess and lunch, we usually hang out at the pool, because two of our friends are starters in Blitzball."

"Huh, no wonder..."

Just then, Namine's phone rang.

"Hello?"

...

"Why can't you just...?"

...

...

"Okay, okay, fine," Namine hung up and turned back to Demyx, rolling her eyes, "Roxas insists that I buy that album for him." She pointed at the plastic wrapped album on the counter-top. Demyx laughed.

"Alright." Namine gave him the money, and Demyx cashed it away, giving her the album and the receipt.

"Thanks, bye." Namine smiled and left. Demyx smiled proudly, impressed by his own efforts. Axel stood next to Demyx, speechless.

"Dem... I..."

"You owe me big time."

---

**sxc pyromaniac  
To: cerulean reverie.  
Sure, I should have the .mp3 file on my laptop somewhere... usually I don't do that genre of music, so it was really fun to do.  
Anyway, I'll email it to you when I eventually find it.**

---

Roxas walked into the library at school, intent on finding Namine. He was way overdue for a tutoring session on Trigonometry. But he never ended up finding her because he saw Axel sitting at the table with her. Their eyes had locked, and Roxas had instantly run away, gone like the wind, his blush too bright to hide.

---

**cerulean reverie.  
To: sxc pyromaniac  
Thanks! What kind of music do you listen to then? It probably looks like I'm some kind of classical music freak, but actually, I like Pop rock/Punk rock. :)**

---

The next day, he was standing in the queue to buy his lunch, when Axel and Zexion joined the line behind him.

"Hi, Roxas." Axel greeted brightly, behind him, Zexion rolled his eyes. Roxas didn't bother to reply, and he didn't care if he starved to death, he just ran away.

---

**sxc pyromaniac  
To: cerulean reverie.  
Well then, you're in luck Roxie, because the band I'm in with Demyx plays both those genres. Though we lean more towards Punk. Check it out, linkage on my profile.  
Every rippin' guitar solo you hear is me, baby. ;D**

---

Roxas stared across the cafeteria at Axel, sighing a little. His friends sat around him, chatting endlessly, although they casted knowing glances at Roxas. Suddenly, Axel turned his head and saw Roxas, his lips began to smirk, that smirk that Roxas had loved ever since year eight.

_Every rippin' guitar solo you hear is me, __**baby.**_

"Roxas?! Are you okay? Your nose, it's bleeding!" Roxas looked down and saw his favorite white band shirt stained with blood. _Crap_.

---

**cerulean reverie.  
To: sxc pyromaniac  
Wow, awesome! Your band has so many views though, it makes me feel so insignificant. Haha**

**sxc pyromaniac  
To: cerulean reverie.  
You like my band? You should come along to one of our gigs, our next one is next weekend, it's gonna be awesome!  
I need your advice on something, Roxas. You see, this cute blonde boy at school keeps avoiding me. What should I do?**

---

_Damn._

---

_Good Morning, Twilight Town! This is your radio DJ, Myde, live from my basement! I'm feelin' like a little self promotion to kick start the day, so here a song my band wrote-- _**BANG.**

Roxas sighed, rolling out of bed slowly, his hand sliding off the top of his alarm lethargically. _Damn_. He still hadn't replied to Axel on Myspace. He just didn't know what to say. But he didn't want to lose that Myspace connection with Axel, because it was the only place where he actually had the guts to talk to Axel, and not go red, or run away, or have a bloody blood nose. He got ready for another day of avoiding, walking to school slowly.

Roxas walked into the music building, cold but quite content with his new All Time Low album blasting through his ears. He went up the stair case and checked the practice rooms, but found them all locked or used. Sighing, he trooped back down to the big amphitheater and took out his earphones, pocketing them with his iPod. Suddenly, he could hear something. A song. And insanely familiar song. It was coming from the amphitheater. Frowning, Roxas pushed the door open. Who was playing his song...? Had Namine...?

Axel?!

The red head sat on the stool at the piano, his fingers playing languidly, so lost in the song that he hadn't even noticed Roxas' entrance. He played his song well, almost better than Roxas. Roxas took a seat in the nearest chair, his eyes wide, absolutely shocked. Somehow, Axel looked so much better on the stage than Roxas ever would. His body just gave off so much confidence, and the song filled the room so perfectly. And just when Roxas thought the song was coming a close, Axel crescendoed back up and continued on, playing notes unfamiliar in Roxas' ears, as the end of Roxas' part flowed fluently into Axel's. It was amazing...

The song eventually drew to a close, and Axel ended it perfectly with a fading high pitched chord, his head bowed. Roxas couldn't stop himself from clapping. Somehow, Axel's playing had removed all the nerves and qualms in Roxas' body. He felt elated, a smile seemed permanently etched into his face.

Axel's eyes shot over to the sound of the clapping, his green eyes slightly shocked. Roxas stood and walked over to the front row and leaned on the end of the stage, looking up at Axel.

"That was beautiful."

"I want royalties if you ever use that song for something." Roxas laughed, shocking Axel.

"I always knew you were sexy pyromaniac." Roxas smiled knowingly, making Axel laugh.

"It's a bit of a no brainer." Axel smiled back.

"Why're you playing my song, though?"

"I figured it was the only way to get you to actually talk to me at school. Myspace is nice and all, but so limited, if you catch my drift." Axel smirked widely.

"I can't believe this is happening."

"Huh?"

"I can't believe you played my song. And you extended my song. And you're here in front of me. And you're smiling at me. It feels so... right." Axel walked over to the end of the stage and slid off fluidly next to Roxas.

"Does this feel right?"

"Yes." Roxas smiled. Axel combed a hand through Roxas' hair.

"Does that feel right?"

"Yes." Axel leaned in, cocking his head to the side a little.

"What about this?"

"Yes." Roxas breathed.

_snap_.

In his peripheral, Roxas suddenly saw Namine holding up a camera next to Zexion and Demyx. The perfect elation that Roxas had been feeling seeped away, and his face went pale.

_What the...?!_

---

_You're listening to Ienzo and Myde Show, and that was a little song written by a close friend of mine, Roxas Strife, remixed by the wonderful douchebag, Axel Firaga, called Passion (The Sexy Pyro Remix). You can hit them up on Myspace..._

---

**(1) Guitar TABs - It's a different (and, in my opinion, easier) way to read/write music, and it takes literally one sentence to explain. The lines are guitar strings, the top line is the highest and bottom is the lowest string, and the numbers show what fret to put your fingers on. Done.**

**.com/watch?v=-neZL4_O6sQ**

**.com/watch?v=a4-sqvJRm5U**

**The Lock Down Denial - Cute is What We Aim For**

**And the Boys Like Girls song I'm thinking of is Love Drunk.**

**Think of Axel's remix as the official version of Passion (by Utada Hikaru), with more guitar. Or just think of it however you wanna.**


End file.
